Apparatus for defibrating cottonseed and the like



Out. .29, 192 9. E. c. DE SEGUNDO APPARATUS FOR DEFIBRATING COTTON SEED AND THE. LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 d'ni'wt Filed March 8, 1928 M ab 62 Qdfefibrating elements are not relied upon for Patented Oct. 29, 1929 (canes arter es eer-ear t me a i j EDWARD CARSTENSEN DE SEGUNDO, 01 LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGITOB {TO RESIDUAL COTTON SEED FIBRES, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND 'APfPARA TUS sea DEFIBEATING corronsnnn AND THE LIKE Application filed March s, 1928, Serial no; 260,180, and in Great Britain June '27, 1927.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for defibrating cotton seed, or oth- J31 fiber bearing seeds or material and for segregating'and collecting, in a continuous manner, the detached fibers, as described in my prior United States Letters Patent Nos.

1,329.828,1,5'62,808 and 1,563,263.

Hitherto, in the apparatus described in the aforesaid Letters Patent, a current of air has been caused to traverse the defibrating chamber chiefly the action of the rev0lV- ing- 'defibratingelements which are specially designed forthis purpose, while a circular row of vvanes or fan blades revolving in unison with the defibrating elements and arranged either above or below those elements has beenprovided for the purpose of assisting in the production or in the carrying away, of the current of air and With it the detached fibers, the intensity of the/current of air being dependent upon the speed of rotation of those elements, and capable of vari'a ti'on only by varying that speed.

According to the present invention, the

the production of the necessary air current through the defibrating chamber. The current ofai'r is produced by fan blades revolv with the shaft operating the defibrating elements and arranged below said elements and the upper series of defibrating elements are designed to present little obstruction to the passage of air through the defibrating chamber. b p b One feature of the lIIVGIlt-IOILCOllSlStS 1n the provision of means whereby the intensity of the plenum of'air below the defibrating ele m'ents may be regulated independently of the movement or speed of rotation of the defibrating elements and without 1 al ering any of the other conditions under which the defibrating operation is proceeding' In order to accomplish this the wall of the open-ended pedestal casing enclosing the housing in which the fan blades rotate may be provided with one or more apertures, each of which can be closed or masked to any desired extent by means such asa sliding shutter. I h V A further feature of the inventlon consists in an improved constructionand disposition I of theupper series of defibrating elements.

In the arrangements described in my prior patents above referred to, the'upper series of defibrating elements have been in the form of relatively short carding or like members, each mounted on a horizontal arm attached to the rotary cylinder or its equivalent in the defibrating chamber, the members being mounted in rows, one above the other, leaving substantial gaps between the row.

Further, in the defibrating operation, these relatively short carding'members were necessarily immersedin the mass of seed under treatment in order to detach the fibers and were made so as to pass through the mass of seeds with a minimum of resistance, being inclined at an angle to the horizontal in order to produce "a current of air which carries "away the detached fibers;

, In the present construction, the upper dc fibrating elements are each in the form of a long strip of suitable delibr a't'ingma'terial se cured to a substantially vertical holder carried on a horizontal arm or arms attached to the rotary cylindrical body and arranged side by side substantially vertically so that a series of long substantially vertical elements is formed, each presenting a continuous substanti ally vertical defibrating surface of conmeans and one of the obj ects of this preferred arrangement of the defibrating elements being to present slightobstruc'tion to the passage of the air through the defibrating chamber. Moreover, with this special form of difibrating elements, it has been found practicable to make the defibrating -chamber cylindrical throughout its whole length, thus simplifying the construction of the machine. It will be noted that in the machine described in U. S. Patent No. 1,562,308, the defibrating chamber was partly cylindrical and partly conical.

A much smaller number of defibrating elements sufiices than heretofore and the quantity of seed treated per hour by the machine constructed according to the present invention is very greatly increased without increas ing its size. Moreover, the replacement of the defibrating surfaces is effected without skilled labor hitherto required and also more cheaply and easily than heretofore. If desired, a fan may be arranged in the known manner above the top of the rotating elements for assisting in carrying away the fibers detached from the material under treatment.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of a portion of a defibrating apparatus having the invention applied.

Fig. 2illustrates two horizontal half-sections of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the sections being taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a defibrating element and a carrier or holder for supporting it.

Fig.4 is a view taken from a position at right angles to that at which the efibratmg element illustrated in Fig. 3 is viewed.

Fig. is a horizontal section on the line 55 of-Fig. 3. i

Fig. 6 is a vertical section illustrating a modified construction of parts in the lower portion of the apparatus shown In Fig. 1.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is not in itself novel in so far as regards the following. parts :the casing or wall 1 of the defibrating chamber 21; the protuberance 2 on the inner surface of the wall; the lower of two superposed series of deiibrating elements 7 the slidably mounted means 23 for varying the clearance between the inner wall of the chamber and the defibrating elements 7 the hollow cylindrical body 3 which is disposed within the casing 1, carries at its upper end a series of vanes such as the fan blades- 22 and is furnished with a cap 3 and with radially disposed arms 4 carrying holders for an upper series of defibrating elements; the arrangement-wherein the lower portion of the wallof the body 3 is secured to a boss 5 which is ClIlV- en by a rotatable shaft 6 and carries the lower series of defibrating elements 7; all of which have been described in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,562,308, dated November 17, 1925. V

For the purpose of carrying out the present invention, there is secured to the shaft 6 one or more, fan blades 8 which revolve with the shaft within an upright chamber or housing 9 having open ends and arranged within a hollow pedestal casing 10 which has open ends and supports the lower portion of the casing 1.

One or more apertures 11 are provided in the pedestal wall 10, each of which apertures can be closed or masked to any desired extent and in any convenient manner, for instance, as shown by means of a sliding shutter 12.

During a defibrating operation the body 3 revolves together with the defibrating elements carried by the arms 4 fixed to the body 3, and a plenum of air is produced by the rotation of the blades 8 in the chamber 9 below the rotating defibrating elements and passes upwardly through the defibrating chamber in whole or in part, in part only if one or more of the apertures 11am to a greater or less extent unmasked. The volume of air thus passing through the defibrating chamber and the intensity of the air current vary in accordance with the setting of the shutters 12 or other devices masking the apertures 11, a portion of the air current produced by the fan blades 8 being thus diverted.

If desired, a fan consisting of one or more suitably formed blades 22 which may conveniently be attached to the body 3 may be provided above the upper series of defibrating elements in the known manner to assist in the removal of the fibers, but it has been found in practice that this fan is not essential.

The defibrated seeds or material descending from the defibrating chamber fall upon a ledge 18 at the bottom of the pedestal casing 10, and may be discharged in known manner by means of blades '19 carried by arms mounted on the wall of the body 3.

The fan blades 8 may, alternatively, be,

as in Fig. 6, fixed to the inner surface of the side wall of the housing 9 which in such case would be adapted to revolve together with e a shaft 6, while the blades 19, instead of being carried by the arms 20, would be mounted on the outer surface of the side Wall of the housing 9.

A holder 13 for a defibrating element 14 is shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The holder is attached to the outer end of one of the arms 4, the inner end of which is bolted or otherwise secured to the wall of the hollow body 3. The defibrating element 14 is preferably arranged on the holder 13 so that it is at an inclination to the vertical axis of the defibrating chamber and extends or lies along a generatrix of a cone whose axis coincides with the said vertical axis. At one or more places along its length the holder 13 is formed with holes or slots 15 through which extends the screw-threaded shank 16 of a stud having a head 16'. The threaded end of the stud engages with corresponding screw threads in a bar 17, having a fiat base 17 and a curved outer surface 17 The defibrating element 14 is likewise curved so as to embrace the curved outer surface of the 'bar 17 The edges 14 of the defibrating element are bent towards one another, as shown in Fig. 5. When the defibrating parts are assembled, the bent edge portions 14: are arranged between the fiat base 1'? of the bar 17 and the adjacent fiat face of the holder 13. By screwing the stud the chamber having an aperture in its side wall, a cylindrical body within the chamber, an upper series of defibrating elements on the cylindrical body, a lower series of defibrating elements on the cylindrical body, an open ended housing carried on the pedestal casing below the cylindrical body, a rotary driving shaft secured to the cylindrical body and passing through the housing, fan blades carried on thedriving shaft within the housing and a sliding shutter arranged around the outside of the pedestal casing controlling the opening of the aperture.

2. An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a defibrati'ng chamber, an open ended pedestal casing supportlng the chamber having an aperture in its side wall, a cylindrical body within the chamber, an upper series of defibrating elements mounted on the cylindrical body and arranged at an inclination to the vertical axis of the chamber and extending along generatrices of a cone, the axis of which coincides with said vertical axis, the base of the cone being adj acent to the pedestal casing, a lower series of defibrating elements on the cylindrical body, an open ended housing carried on thepedestal casing below the cylindrical body, a rotary driving shaft secured to the cylindrical body and passing through the housing, fan blades carried on the driving shaft within the hous- 7 ing and means for controlling the opening of the sideaperture in the pedestal casing. V

3. An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a defibrating cham-' ber, an open ended pedestal casing supporting the chamber having an aperture. in its side wall, a cylindrical body within the chamber, an upper series of defibrating elements mounted on the cylindrical body andarranged at an inclination to the vertical axis of the chamber and extending along generatrices of a cone, the axis of which coincides with said vertical axis, the base ofthe cone being adjacent to the pedestal casing, a low,- er series of defibrating elements on the cylindrical body,an open ended housing carried on the pedestal casing below the cylindrical body, a rotary driving shaft secured to the cylindrical body and passing through the housing, a connection betweenv the housing .and the shaft, fan blades connected to the interior of the housing, and means for controlling the opening of the side aperture-in the pedestal, casing. ,7 1 l. In apparatus of the classdescribed comprising in combination, a defibrating chamber, a cylindrical body within the chamber, an upper series of defibrating elements on the cylindrical body, a lower series of defibrating elements on thecylindrical body, means for rotating the cylindrical body, and means for producing a plenum of air below the defibrating elements, each defibrating element compr-isinga fiat'faced holder bar, a second bar having a flat rear surface and arounded front surface, a defibrating strip bent round, the

rounded front surface of the second bar so that its edgeslie on the flat rear surface of the bar, clamping means for securing the two bars together with their fiat surfaces in contact to hold the defibrating strip in position, andmeans for attaching the flat faced holder bar to the hollow cylindrical body.

5. An apparatus of the class described com-' prising in combination, a defibrating chamber, a rotary shaft, a rotary body attached to said shaft within the chamber, means for rober, a rotary shaft, a rotary body attached to said shaft within the chamber, means for rotating the shaft, an upper series of defibrat ing elements on the rotary body, a lower series of defibrating elements on the rotary body, fan blades revolving with the shaft and arranged below the defibrating elements for producing a plenum of air, and means whereby the intensity of the plenum is regulatable independently of the movement of rotation of the defibrating elements.

7 An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a .defibrating chamber, a rotary shaft, a rotary body attached to said shaft within the chamber, means for rotating the shaft, an upper series of defibrating elements on the rotary body, each in the form 'ofalong strip of defibrating material and arranged at an inclination to the vertical axis of the chamber and extending along generatrices of a cone, the axes of which coincides with said vertical axis, alower series of defibrating elements on the rotary body and fan blades revolving with the shaft and arranged below the defibrating elements.

8. An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a defibrating chamber, av rotary shaft, a rotary body attached to said shaft within the chamber, means for rotating the shaft, an upper series of defibrating elements on the rotary body, each in the form of a long strip of defibrating material and arranged at an inclination to the vertical axis of the chamber and extending along generatrices of a cone, the axis of which coincides with said vertical axis, a lower series of defibrating elements on the rotary body, fan blades revolving with the shaft and arranged below the defibrating elements for producing a plenum of air, and means whereby the intensity of the plenum is regulatable independently ofthe movement of rotation of the defibrating elements.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name tothis specification.

EDWARD CARSTENSEN de SEGUNDO. 

